Face Your Writing Demons
ByThere are demons every writer must face. You know, those sneaky little things that discourage you and make you want to run and hide and just forget about writing altogether.
You must face these things head-on. You can’t run and you certainly can’t hide from them. Because if you are truly a writer, no matter where you go or what you do, they’ll follow you every step of the way.
For the most part I’ve conquered many of my own demons:
- Fear
- Lack of courage
- Not believing in myself
The list could go on and on. And I have a feeling if you sat down and listed every one of your demons, your list would be pretty long, too.
One thing you must know is that regardless of how hard you work to try to rid yourself of your writing demons, there will probably always be one or two that will haunt you. (If not, you’re better than me!)
I have one nasty little demon that is toying with me again. It hasn’t reared its ugly little head in a very long time. I even thought that maybe it was gone for good, but it isn’t.
To be honest with you, when it presented itself to me again, the first thing I wanted to do was delete this blog. I thought if I just delete the source of where it’s coming from, that would destroy it. But I know that isn’t true. It will just rise again from somewhere else.
This writing demon I’m referring to is one that makes me want to remove all current existence of writing in my personal name and write in a pen name. Its one that follows me and watches me day and night. It aggravates me and makes me feel like I can’t say anything personal because it could be used against me.
But you know what? I’m not going to let that writing demon win. Because the second I do, writing will never be the same for me. I shouldn’t have to run for cover and hide. I shouldn’t….and I won’t.
What writing demons do you face? Have you conquered them yet? Or do they still control you and your writing?
4 Comments
March 31st, 2009 at 11:42 am
Hi, Hope! Just wanted to let you know that I’ve really been enjoying your posts. Going through a lot of questioning and wondering what I’m trying to accomplish with my writing these days and if it’s even worth the effort. This post really hit the nail on the head. Thanks!
March 31st, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I’ve tried to run and hide from my writing demons too but they are more tenacious than Rambo and the Terminator. They always find me. Every time I think I’ve finally found the ultimate weapon to defeat them, they rise from the ashes and target me again.
Slowly I am learning to declare with conviction, “Not today! and write anyway. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but I get it that my deamons” will follow me all through my writing life. Sometimes they may even loom darker and stronger and they will mes and scare the living daylights, or more accurately, the writing daylights out of me.
Nevertheless, I will continue to fight, that’s what we writing warriors do, we fight our demons, but we don’t sit around celebrating. Instead, as they go down, we rise up, plant our butts in our chairs and write. Because, as surely as day follows night, they will come at us again.
So I try to get as much wrtiting down before their return because when they do, they are going to have a fight on their hands. I’m not going down without a fight.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Thanks Heather!
March 31st, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Yep, Cheryl, it’s a daily struggle. I have my “down times” when I take a break from writing. But it’s always there, waiting patiently for me to hurry up and grab the pen again.